“We are on the side of Life, not Death”: Peace campaign from Women’s & LGBTI groups (Turkey)
PDF: We are on the Side of Life, not Death
“You may remember our international call for support and solidarity for this
campaign in mid-January, when we asked women’s and LGBTI groups and
individuals across the world to sign onto our petition in the midst of an
intensifying war in Turkey. As we stated back then, the resolution process
that was started in 2012 for a political solution to the Kurdish issue in
Turkey has come to a halt. For the past seven months, we have turned back
to war – with an ever-increasing level of violence. As of the 16th of
January, 2016, 20 districts of seven different provinces have suffered 57
curfews altogether, remaining under curfew for a total of 376 days.
Currently the sieges on Cizre and Silopi have reached 59 days, while the
Sur neighbourhood of Diyarbakır has been under siege for 71 days already.
In these seven months hundreds of people – civilians, guerilla fighters,
soldiers, police forces – have been killed or wounded.
In areas where clashes are intense and curfews have been declared due to
military operations, tens of thousands of people have been forced or left
no choice but to leave their homes, becoming migrants, i.e. internally
displaced persons. Those who have been unable to leave, or who have chosen
to remain in their homes, in their neighbourhoods despite intense attacks
by security forces have been declared ‘illegal’. Their lives are under dire
threat, and all their possessions suffer serious damage. Dozens of families
have been forced to take refuge in crowded basements due to military
bombings, with nothing to eat but a loaf of dry bread which they share.
Pregnant women have either given birth early or miscarried. Many people
have lost their lives, unable to reach hospitals due to sniper fire. The
bodies of those who are killed remain in the streets for days, as people
are not allowed by the state to claim their dead. Families are not given
the right to bury their loved ones. Only this week, the naked bodies of
women who have been killed in Cizre by state security forces have been
displayed. Only this week, more than 60 people have been massacred in three
separate basements in Cizre. Those wounded in one of these basements have
been there for weeks, calling for an ambulance….”
Tags: Cizre, Diyarbakır, KJA - Congress of Free Women, Kurdistan, PDF, Repression, Silopi, Turkey, War
This entry was posted on Sunday, February 14th, 2016 at 12:12 am and is filed under Social Control.
